The new Canadian laws on CO2 emissions aim to lower the emissions of coal-fired power plants down to those of natural gas combined cycle units: 420 kg CO2/MWeh. In order to meet these requirements, calcium looping and two process variants are investigated through process simulations using Aspen Plus V8.2. The combination of calcium looping and chemical looping combustion, replacing the required air separation unit, is a way to reduce the energy penalty of the capture process. The addition of copper as an oxygen carrier in two different process configurations is compared to calcium looping and shown to reduce the efficiency penalty from 7.8% to 4.5% points but at the price of circulations rates up to about 3800 kg/s. The other improvement path studied is the implementation of calcium looping to a pressurized fluidized bed combustion unit. The pressurized carbonator acts as a reheater for the gas turbine and operating the carbonator at temperatures up to 798°C results in a reduction of the energy penalty from 5.1% to 3.1% points.

Pressurized chemical looping combustion (PCLC) is a promising next generation carbon capture technology which operates on the fundamentals of oxyfuel combustion to concentrate carbon dioxide in the flue gas stream. Oxygen is supplied through cyclic oxidation and reduction of a solid metal oxide between an air reactor and fuel reactor to prevent the direct contact of fuel and air. CanmetENERGY-Ottawa, in collaboration with Hatch Ltd., is designing a pilot scale PCLC system which uses ilmenite as the oxygen carrier and a novel fluidized bed design called the Plug Flow Internally-recirculating Reactor (PFIR). The PFIR consists of an annular bubbling fluidized region in which particles are circulated by angle jets through two reactive zones separated by baffles. The overall objective of this thesis was to provide key design parameters and insight for the construction of the pilot facility. Experimental work was first conducted investigating the minimum fluidization velocity (Umf), gas bubble size, and tube-to-bed heat transfer coefficients of different ilmenite particle size distributions (PSDs) at varying pressures up to 2000 kPa. The data was compared to a variety of literature correlations. The Saxena & Vogel (1977) constants for the Wen-Yu type correlations (Remf=√C12+C2Ar-C1) resulted in the best fit for predicting the Umf of the PSDs with Sauter mean diameters (SMD) less than 109 μm, while the Chitester et al. (1984) constants resulted in better predictions for the larger particle size distributions (SMD greater than 236 μm). Gas bubble size was found to be marginally impacted by pressure, with the Mori & Wen (1975) correlation best fitting the data. The heat transfer coefficient was found to also be marginally increased by pressure with the the Molerus et al. (1995) correlation matching the atmospheric data. A computational particle fluid dynamic (CPFD) model of the experimental unit was then created and validated using the obtained data for minimum fluidization velocity and bubble size. The accuracy of the model was found to be dependent on the particle close packing factor input variable, with a value of 0.58 resulting in the best results for each of the ilmenite PSDs modeled. Finally, a CPFD model was created for a cold flow design of the PFIR to investigate the impacts of different operating parameters on the solids circulation rate and gas infiltration rate between the two reactor zones. This model used the validated parameters of the previous CPFD model to add confidence to the results. The impacts of increasing superficial gas velocity, fluidizing gas jet velocity, bed height, and pressure were all found to increase the solids circulation rate through their respective impacts on the momentum rate of the fluidizing gas. A polynomial function was fit between these two variables resulting in a method to predict the solids circulation rate. Similarly, the rate of gas infiltration between sections was found to be dependent on the solids circulation rate, allowing for a function to be made to predict the gas infiltration at different operating conditions.

Abstract: Global decarbonization requires addressing local challenges and advancing appropriate technologies. In this dissertation, an investigation of appropriate carbon capture technologies for CO2 capture from heavy fuel oil (HFO) fired power plants, common locally, is presented. Two emerging technologies are considered, chemical looping combustion (CLC) and calcium looping (CaL). In a preliminary study, CLC and CaL implementation at an HFO-fired power plant are modeled using Aspen software, and based on the results, CaL is selected for further experimental investigation. Briefly, CaL is a high temperature separation process that utilizes limestone-derived CaO tosimultaneously concentrate CO2 and capture SO2 from flue gas. The solid CaO particles are cycled between carbonation and calcination, CaO + CO2 ⇋ CaCO3, in a dual fluidized bed system and experience capture capacity decay with cycling. Structurally distinct limestones were procured from the two geologic regions where limestone is mined in Saudi Arabia. Using bubbling fluidized bed reactor systems, the capture performance of these two limestones, and a German limestone of known performance, were compared. The combined and individual influence of flue gas H2O and SO2 content, the influence of textural changes caused by sequential calcination/carbonation cycles, and the impact of CaSO4 accumulation on the sorbents’ capture performance were examined. It was discovered that metamorphosed limestone-derived sorbents exhibit atypical capture behavior: flue gas H2O negatively influences CO2 capture performance, while limited sulfation can positively influence CO2 capture. The morphological characteristics influencing sorbent capture behavior were examined using imaging and material characterization tools, and a detailed discussion is presented. Saudi Arabian limestones’ deactivation rates were examined by thermogravimetric analysis. A quantitative correlation describing sulfation deactivation was developed. The validity of amending the conventional semi-empirical sorbent deactivation model with the novel correlation was supported by subsequent pilot scale (20 kWth) experiments. Solving process mass and energy balances, reasonable limits on operating parameters for CaL implementation at HFO-fired power plants were calculated. The influence of power plant configuration, carbonator design, and limestone source on power plant energy efficiency are considered and a discussion is presented. Finally a commentary on the potential of this technology for local implementation and required future work is presented.

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No description available.

Des études numériques ont montré que la taille de la cellule de maillage peut avoir un effet drastique sur la modélisation du lit fluidisé circulant avec des petites particules. En effet, la taille de la cellule doit être de l’ordre de quelques diamètres de particules pour prédire avec précision le comportement dynamique d’un lit fluidisé. En conséquence, les simulations numériques d’ Euler-Euler des processus industriels sont généralement effectuées avec des grilles trop grossières pour permettre la prédiction des effets de ségrégation locale. La modélisation appropriée, qui prend en compte l’influence des structures non résolues, a déjà été proposée pour les simulations monodispersés. Dans ce travail, l’influence des structures non résolues sur un mélange binaire de particules est analysée et on propose des modèles pour tenir compte de cet effet dans des simulations de lit fluidisé polydispersés. Pour atteindre cet objectif, des simulations Euler-Euler de références sont réalisées avec un raffinement du maillage aboutissant à une solution indépendante de la taille de la cellule. Ce type de simulation numérique est très coûteux et se limite à des configurations très simples. Dans ce travail, la configuration se consiste en un lit circulant périodique 3D, qui représente la région établie d'un lit circulant. Parallèlement, une approche filtrée est développée où les termes inconnus, appelés contributions de sous-maille, doivent être modélisés. Les filtres spatiaux peuvent être appliqués aux résultats de simulation de référence afin de mesurer chaque contribution de sous-maille apparaissant dans l’approche théorique filtrée. Une analyse est réalisée afin de comprendre et de modéliser l’effet de la contribution des termes de sous-maille. L’opération de filtrage fait apparaître de nouveaux termes, les termes de sous-maille. Un terme filtré est la somme d’un terme résolu, obtenus à partir des champs filtrés, et d’ un terme de sous-maille. L’analyse de l’équation filtrée de quantité de mouvement montre que les contributions résolues de la traînée des particules fluides et la collision entre particules surestiment les effets de transferts de quantité de mouvement filtrés. L’analyse de l’équation filtrée de l’énergie cinétique des particules montre que la production résolue par le cisaillement moyen et par le mouvement relatif moyen des particules sous-estime contribution filtrée. Des modèles fonctionnels sont proposés pour les contributions de sous-maille de la traînée et des collisions inter-particule. / Detailed sensitivity numerical studies have shown that the mesh cell-size may have a drastic effect on the modelling of circulating fluidized bed with small particles. Typically, the cell-size must be of the order of few particle diameters to predict accurately the dynamical behaviour of a fluidized bed. Hence, the Euler-Euler numerical simulations of industrial processes are generally performed with grids too coarse to allow the prediction of the local segregation effects. Appropriate modelling, which takes into account the influence of unresolved structures, have been already proposed for monodisperse simulations. In this work, the influence of unresolved structures on a binary mixture of particles is investigated and models are proposed to account for those effect on bidisperse simulations of bidisperse gas-solid fluidized bed. To achieve this goal, Euler-Euler reference simulations are performed with grid refinement up to reach a mesh independent solution. Such kind of numerical simulation is very expensive and is restricted to very simple configurations. In this work, the configuration consists of a 3D periodical circulating fluidized bed, that could represent the established zone of an industrial circulating fluidized bed. In parallel, a filtered approach is developed where the unknown terms, called sub-grid contributions, appear. They correspond to the difference between filtered terms, which are calculated with the reference results then filtered, and resolved contributions, calculated with the filtered fields. Then spatial filters can be applied to reference simulation results to measure each sub-grid contribution appearing in the theoretical filtered approach. A budget analysis is carried out to understand and model the sub-grid term. The analysis of the filtered momentum equation shows that the resolved fluid-particle drag and inter-particle collision are overestimating the momentum transfer effects. The analysis of the budget of the filtered random kinetic energy shows that the resolved production by the mean shear and by the mean particle relative motion are underestimating the filtered ones. Functional models are proposed for the subgrid contributions of the drag and the inter-particle collision.

La combustion en boucle chimique (CLC) est une nouvelle technologie prometteuse, qui implique la séparation inhérente du dioxyde de carbone (CO2) avec une perte minimale d'énergie. Un transporteur d'oxygène est utilisé pour le transfert de l'oxygène en continu du "réacteur air" vers le "réacteur fuel" où l'oxygène est apporté au combustible. Ainsi, le contact direct entre l'air et le combustible est évité. Le gaz résultant est riche en CO2 et n'est pas dilué avec de l'azote. Le transporteur d'oxygène réduit est ensuite transporté vers le "réacteur air" afin d'être ré-oxydé, formant ainsi une boucle chimique.Ce manuscrit présente des études conduites en utilisant une nouvelle configuration de CLC de 10 kWth construite pour étudier une large gamme de conditions opératoires. Cette unité met en oeuvre le concept des lits fluidisés interconnectés en utilisant des vannes-en-L pour contrôler le débit de solide et des siphons pour minimiser les fuites de gaz. L'hydrodynamique de la circulation de solide a été étudiée sur une maquette froide et un pilote chaud. Un modèle de la circulation du solide a ensuite été développé sur le principe du bilan de pression.L'hydrodynamique de la phase gaz dans le réacteur a été étudiée expérimentalement en utilisant la distribution des temps de séjour (DTS). Un modèle hydrodynamique a été développé sur le principe du lit fluidisé bouillonnant à deux phases. La combustion du méthane a été étudiée avec NiO/NiAl2O4 comme transporteur d'oxygène. De bonnes performances de combustion et de captage de CO2 ont été atteintes. Un modèle de réacteur a été finalement mis au point en utilisant le modèle hydrodynamique du lit fluidisé bouillonnant développé précédemment et en adaptant un schéma réactionnel à cette configuration / Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a promising novel combustion technology involving inherent separation of carbon dioxide with minimum energy penalty. An oxygen carrier is used to continuously transfer oxygen from the air reactor to the fuel reactor where the oxygen is delivered to burn the fuel. Consequently, direct contact between the air and the fuel is prevented. The resulting flue gas is rich in CO2 without N2 dilution. The reduced oxygen carrier is then transported back to the air reactor for re-oxidation purposes, hence forming a chemical loop.This dissertation presents studies conducted on a novel 10 kWth CLC configuration built to investigate a wide range of conditions. The system employs concept of interconnected bubbling fluidized beds using L-valves to control solid flow rate and loop-seals to maximize gas tightness. Hydrodynamics of solid circulation was investigated with a cold flow prototype and a high temperature pilot plant in a wide temperature range. A solid circulation model was developed based on the experimental results using the pressure balance principle. Hydrodynamic of the gas phase in the reactors was investigated through RTD studies. A hydrodynamic model was then developed based on the two phase model of bubbling fluidized beds. Methane Combustion was experimentally studied in the pilot plant using NiO/NiAl2O4 oxygen carriers. Good combustion performances and CO2 capture efficiency were achieved. A reactor model was finally developed using the previously developed hydrodynamic model of bubbling fluidized bed and adapting a reaction scheme

The production of fuel and chemicals is expected to be based on renewable energies in the next few years. However, combustion causes CO2 emission. Its reduction is one of the main focuses to regulate greenhouse effect, as expected by the Kyoto protocol. One combustion technology which could reduce CO2 emissions is chemical-looping combustion coupled to a CO2 capture device. This technique involves the use of a bed-material, with a size between 100 and 500 µm, composed of an oxide supported by a porous ceramic. This oxide acts as an oxygen carrier and circulates from a reducing atmosphere reactor, where oxygen reacts with CO to produce CO2, to an oxidising reactor, where combustion occurs. In order to improve the reactivity of this carrier, a fluidized bed reactor is used and involves gas velocity. Attrition resistant granulates are therefore needed because of the high impacts occurring in the reactors. Moreover, large pore network is expected to improve the reactivity of the carrier because of the higher accessibility of the gas. Granulates studied for oxygen carrier supports are frequently based on γ-alumina, which is highly mesoporous. In order to understand the importance of microstructure, three different routes were studied with samples composed of macropores, mesopores and a sample composed of both type of pores. Pore size could be successfully tailored with addition of diatomite, composed of pores in the micrometer range. This thesis aims to describe the tailoring of microstructure with addition of diatomite and at understanding its influence on attrition resistance. To be able to verify the performance of the developed supports, impregnation of copper oxide and looping experiments were performed.

Une étude précise des écoulements gaz-particules poly-solides et réactifs rencontrés dans les lits fluidisés circulants (LFC) appliqués au procédé de Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) est indispensable pour prédire un point de fonctionnement stable et comprendre l'influence de la réaction et de la polydispersion sur l'hydrodynamique des LFC. Dans ce but, des simulations avec le code NEPTUNE_CFD ont été confrontées aux expériences menées à l'Université Technologique de Compiègne par ALSTOM. Cette modélisation a été validée sur des LFC non réactifs mono-solides et poly-solides. L'influence des caractéristiques des particules et de la position des injecteurs sur l'entrainement de solide est étudiée. Un modèle de prise en compte de la production locale de gaz au cours de la réaction est présenté. L'étude locale de l'écoulement a permis de comprendre l'influence des collisions interparticulaire et de la production locale de gaz sur l'écoulement. Finalement, un point de fonctionnement a été proposé pour le pilote CLC en construction à Darmstadt. Ce travail a montré que NEPTUNE_CFD pouvait prédire l'hydrodynamique de LFC poly-solides à l'échelle du pilote industriel et participer au dimensionnement de centrales de types CLC. / This work deals with the development, validation and application of a model of Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) in a circulating fluidized bed system. Chapter 1 is an introduction on Chemical Looping Combustion. It rst presents the most important utilizations of coal in the energy industry. Then, it shows that because of the CO2 capture policy, new technologies have been developed in the frame of post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxy-combustion. Then, the Chemical Looping Combustion technology is presented. It introduces multiple challenges: the choice of the Metal Oxide or the denition of the operating point for the fuel reactor. Finally, it shows that there are two specicities for CFD modeling: the influence of the collisions between particles of different species and the local production of gas in the reactor due to the gasication of coal particles. Chapter 2 outlines the CFD modeling approach: the Eulerian-Eulerian approach extended to flows involving different types of particles and coupled with the chemical reactions. Chapter 3 consists in the validation of the CFD model on mono-solid (monodisperse and poly-disperse) and poly-solid flows with the experimental results coming from an ALSTOM pilot plant based at the Universite Tchnologique de Compiegne (France). The relevance of modeling the polydispersity of a solid phase is shown and the influence of small particles in a CFB of large particles is characterized. This chapter shows that the pilot plant hydrodynamics can be predicted by an Eulerian-Eulerian approach. Chapter 4 consists in the validation of the CFD model on an extreme bi-solid CFB of particles of same density but whith a large particle diameter ratio. Moreover, the terminal settling velocity of the largest particles are twice bigger than the fluidization velocity: the hydrodynamics of the large particles are given by the hydrodynamics of the smallest. An experiment performed by Fabre (1995) showed that large particles can circulate through the bed in those operating conditions. Our simulations predicted a circulation of large particles, but underestimated it. It is shown that it can be due to mesh size eect. Finally, a simulation in a periodic box of this case was dened and allowed us to show the major influence of collisions between species. Chapter 5 presents the simulation of a hot reactive CLC pilot plant under construction in Darmstadt (Germany). The simulations account for the chemical reactions and describe its eect on the hydrodynamics. Different geometries and operating conditions are tested.

Kemcyklisk förbränning (CLC) involverar en icke komplex separation av den bildade koldioxiden (CO2) efter förbränningen eftersom syret (O2) överförs till bränslet via en syrebärare som cirkulerar mellan luft- och bränslereaktorn. Eftersom O2 separeras effektivt från kvävgasen (N2) i luftreaktorn, erhålls en produkt gas som till majoriteten består av CO2 och vatten (H2O). Detta resulterar således i mindre komplexa och energi-krävande rökgasreningssystem. Vid förbränning av biomassa inom kemcyklisk förbränning kan negativa CO2 utsläpp erhållas om den producerade CO2 gasen infångas och slutförvaras exempelvis i geologiska formationer. Den infångade CO2 gasen måste för att uppfylla stringenta reningskrav för att undvika diverse konsekvenser relaterade till transportkedjan och slutförvaringen. Förutom CO2 och H2O, kommer den genererade rökgasen från CLC innehålla mindre mängder av biprodukter som kväveoxider (NOx), svaveloxider (SOx) och övriga kontaminanter som behöver att reduceras ned till ppm nivåer för att möta reningskravet på CO2 gasen. På grund av en ofullständig förbränning i CLC erfordras en efterförbränningskammare med en extern tillsats av O2 för att uppnå en fullständig förbränning. Det kan därför förväntas att överskotts-O2 kommer att finnas i den utgående gasen efter post oxidationskammaren, som också behöver att renas ned till ppm koncentrationer. De föreslagna rökgasreningssystemen efter CLC involverar de mest konventionella rökgasreningssystem använda inom industrin idag. Till dessa tillhör bland annat elektrofilter (ESP), våt rökgasavsvavling (WFGD), selektiv katalytisk reduktion (SCR) och selektiv icke-katalytisk reduktion (SNCR) för kväveoxireducering. Två kylnings och CO2 förvätskningstekniker diskuteras i detta arbete: den förkylda Linde Hampson systemet och det kryogena destillationssystemet. Ett rökgasreningssystem har föreslagits för varje förvätskningsteknik. Bland de två föreslagna reningssystemen, enbart scenario 2 uppfyllde Northern Lights kravspecifikationen på CO2, med en reningsgrad på 99.998%. Denna studie anses vara unik då ingen litteratur rörande rökgasrening inom kemcyklisk förbränning var publicerad under skrivtiden av denna masteravhandling. / Chemical looping combustion (CLC) involves an inherent separation of carbon dioxide (CO2), since oxygen (O2) is transferred to the fuel via an oxygen carrier, circulating between the air and fuel reactor. With O2 being removed from nitrogen (N2) in the air reactor, a separate stream containing mostly CO2 and water (H2O) is produced in the fuel reactor, eliminating the need of expensive and energy-demanding gas separation technologies. The use of biomass as fuel in CLC may result in negative CO2 emissions if CO2 is captured and stored. The CO2 product gas must comply to certain purity levels depending on ways of CO2 transportation and where it will be stored. Besides H2O and CO2, the generated flue gas stream in CLC will also contain trace amounts of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and other contaminants, thus requiring a deep removal to ppm levels to comply with the stringent CO2 purity criteria for storage in saline aquifers in this work. Due to an incomplete combustion of fuel gases in CLC, an oxy-polishing step is required for a full conversion to gas products CO2 and H2O. Therefore, pure O2 is required for the oxy-polishing step. Some residual O2 will also be expected in the flue gas stream and needs to be reduced to ppm levels. The downstream treatment in CLC involves the best available gas processing technologies practiced commercially today, such as electrostatic precipitators (ESPs), wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD), selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR). Two CO2 processing systems are discussed in this work; the precooled Linde Hampson unit and the Distillation Separation unit. For each CO2 processing unit (CPU), a flue gas treatment is proposed. Amongst the two proposed scenarios, scenario 2, could with highest certainty, produce a liquid CO2 stream with a purity of 99.998%, complying to the CO2 criteria set by the Northern Lights Project in Norway. At the time of writing this thesis, no other literature has been published assessing flue gas treatment and CPU alternatives in in bio-CLC.